Plug for lining up and welding casing and line pipe



A118' 1; 1939- J. B. GRAHAM -r AL 2.167,896

PLUG FOR LINING UP AND WELDING CASING AND LINE' PIPE I md EA'OUL Mam-TB A113- 1, 1939' J. B. GRAHAM Er AL 2.167,896

PUG FOR LINING UP AND WELDING GASING AND LINE PPE I Filed July 15, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIE.4-

Patented Aug. I, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PLUG Fon LINIG UP AND WELDING oAslNG AND LINE Pn'E w Application July 15, 1937, Serial No. 153,863

Claims.

This invention relates to an apparatus for aligning abutting sections of pipe preparatorv to welding the sections together.

An object of the present invention is to provide 5 a collapsible device that can be lowered into a section of casing held in vertical position in the derrick and aligned with the adjoining section. suspended in the well, to which it is to be welded before being also run into the well.

Another object of this invention is to provide means for aligning abutting sections of pipe that' can be applied to the inside of the pipe to hold the pipe sections in rigid position and provide an unobstructed access to the outside of the joint during-the welding operation.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as the description proceeds, in which:

Figura 1 is a sectional elevatiop of the apparatus of the present invention showing the members in position within the pipe sections,

Figura 2 is a longitudinal sectional view'of Figure 1, v

Figure 3 is a section on the line III-III of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a sectional elevation similar to Figura 2 but showing the segments collapsed within the pipe sections,

Figure 5 is asection on the line V-V of Figure 3, iii'igure 6 is a detailed sectional elevation of another form of construction, and

Figure 7 is a section on the line VII-VII of Figure 6.

in the drawings, the numerals 2 and 3 represent abutting sections of pipe to be properly aligned by the present invention preparatory to the welding of said' sections together.

The apparatus for aligning the abutting pipe sections comprises a hollow segmental cylinder 4,0 including segments 4 and 5. A supporting plate or frame- 6 is adapted to be suspended within the pipe section by oables l or the like. Pivotally connected to said supporting frame are a plurality of links 8 and 9 adapted to pivotally support 45 said segments upon said supporting frame;

The segments 4 are provided with lugs or ears it extending therefrom for pivotal connection with said links 8, while the segments 5 are provided with extending lugs or ears it, each of 50 which has a' slot |4 to permit Vertical movement of said segments 5 over the pins lt carried by said links 9. Under such a construction, the segments 5 are'adapted for a swinging movement about the pivot |6, while the slot |4 permits a Vertical movement of the segments 5 over the pins i5 which are connected to or carried by said links 9.

The segments 4 and 5 are provided with grooves within which are positioned chill rings i'l. These chill rings may be copper or any other metal hav- 6 ing a greater heat conductivity than the metal of said segments 4 and 5. The edges of the segments 4 and 5 are offset in a Vertical plane with respect to each other so that the contact faces of said chill rings are disposed at an angle to 10 the transverse plane of said segments, as shown at |8 in Figura 5.

Rigidly supported by said plate or frame 6, and carried thereby, is a plston-rod 19 having on one end thereof a piston 20. The piston-rod I 9 15 contains two longitudinal conduits separated from each other for the tr'ansmission of fiuld pressure to the opposite sides of the piston 20. Through the passageway or conduit 2 I, fluid pressure may enter on one side of the piston 20 20 through apertures 22, while' pressure may be applied to the other side of said piston through the conduit 23. Fluid pressure for the conduit 23 is admitted through the opening 24, while pipe 25 conveys fiuid pressure to the conduit 2i 25 A hollow cylindrical plug 26 is slidably positioned on said piston-rod and provided with a tapered end portion 21. This end portion has the shape of the frustum of a cone and is adapted, when moved by the iiuid pressure within a cylin- W der 28 formed by the walls of said plug, to coincide with the tapered inner faces of said segments 4 and 5 which, in assembled position, ale of a similar frustum'shape;

The hollow cylindrical plug 26 is provided with 35 an annular shoulder 29 adapted to contact the shoulders 30 formed on said segments 5 When said aligning device is in contracted position so that plug 26 with its integrally formed cylinder 22 is carried thereby. These Shoulders 29 and 30 may also be used to free the segments 5 from any welding metal which has become frozen to them during the operation of the welding together of the adjacent sections of pipe by brnging pressure (either a steadily increasingone or a Sudden shock) to bear on them through the opening movement of said cylinder.

The cylinder 28 is closed at its'end by means of ia threaded plug 2i. An annular collar 32 extends outwardly from the walls of said cylinder 28 to provide a seat i'or the spring 33 which engages an annular flange 34 formed on said segments 5. e i

In Figure 6, the segmental members 4 and 5 are of the same construction as set forth in the preceding figures. However, the means for forcing the plug 26 into engagement with the tapered inner faces of said segments 4 and 5 has been modified. The plug 26 has a central bore in its tapered end within which is positioned and retained, in any conventional manner, an internally threaded nut 35. A rod 36 freely revolves within an opening formed in the cross-head 6. and is provided with a threaded end adapted to threadedly engage said nut 35. By rotating the handle member 36, the plug 25 is moved vertically so as to engage or disengage the tapered inner faces of said segments 4 and thus expand them against the inner walls of said adjacent pipe sections. The forked member 39 maintains said segments 5 relatively stationary until the pins |5 engage the top portion of said slots ll, after which, the continued rotation of said handle member 38 Will cause said segments ,5 to move vertically to bring the inclinedfaces of said chill rings into engagement with each other and maintain said pipe sections rigidly in position for the welding operation.

In operation, the aligning apparatus is suspended within the inner walls of the abutting pipe sections by means of the cable or other conventional type of Suspension means, so that the segments Land 5 will be in a position to expand against the inner walls of said abutting pipe sections in order to rigidly hold them in position for the welding operation. After the segments have been positioned within the pipe sections, pressure is admitted to the cylinder 28 above the piston 20, whereby the cylinder and plug 26 will be moved upwardly so that the tapered end of the plug will engage the inner inclined faces' of segments l to expand them laterally against the innerpwalls of the abutting pipe sections. As the plug 26 moves upwardly, the segments 5 likewise move upwardly through the pressure of the springs 33 which are positioned between the flange 32 on the end of the cylinder 26 and the annular ring 3| on the segments 5. However, the segments 5 will not expand laterally until the pins |5 have moved their limit within the slots |4.formed in the ears |2 carried by said segments 5. VVhen this limit has been reached, the segments 5 are then expanded laterally upon further upward movement of the tapered plug 26 so as to firmly wedge the segments l and 5 in contact with each other along the inclined face 18 formed on the chill ring and shown in Figure 5. This provides a rigid engagement with the inner peripheral walls of the abutting pipe sections and rfiiduces a continuous and uninterrupted surface so that access may be had for weiding the pipes on their outside cylindrical surfaces.

The appamtus of the present invention may.

if desired, beused as a grapple for lifting the casing lying horizontally in the stock pile to a Vertical position for subsequent alignlment with an adjacent pipe section. When it is desired to lift a pipe section from the stock pile, the segmental sleeve is inserted through the pipe and positioned adjacent the end thereof, and the aligned withthe adjacent section of pipe within the well.

In the construction of Figure 6, after the segmental sleeve is inserted into the pipe section, the handle member 36 is rotated to move the plug 26 so it will engage the tapered inner walls of the segments and thus expand them against the inner wall of the pipe. The pipe is then capable of being lifted from its horlzontal position in the stock pile to a Vertical position and subsequently aligned with the adjacent section of pipe within the well.

While we have shown and described specific embodiments of the present invention, it vwill be seen that we do not wish to be limited exactly thereto, since 'various modifications may be made without departing from the scopeof the invention as defined by the following claims.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for aiigning abutting ends of pipe sections comprising in combination a supporting frame, a segmental sleeve having an even number of segments, links connecting said segments to said frame, means on some of said segments cooperating with means on said links to permit both axial and radial movement of said segments, a plug for expanding said segmental sleeve and means for moving said plug to expand or contract said sleeve, an annular shoulder on said I, plug, Shoulders on the axially moving sleeve segments, said shoulders contacting each other for supporting said plug in collapsed position.

2. An apparatus for aligning abutting pipe sec- I tions comprising in combination' a supporting frame, a segmental sleeve consisting of an even number of segments, links connecting said segments to said frame, certain of said segments having only a radial movement while other of said segments have both radial and axial movement, lan expanding plug, means on said plug for supporting said plug on axial moving segments of said sleeve, said'plug including means for seating a resilient member between said plug and said segments and means for moving said plug to engage and disengage said segmental sleeve with the inner walls of said pipe sections.

3. An apparatus for -allgning abutting pipe sections including a segmental sleeve having tapered inner faces and a tapered expanding plug, said sleeve comprising an even number of segments connected to a supporting frame, alternate segments of said sleeve having only a radial movement and the other 'of said segments having both a radial and axial movement, said expanding plug connected to the'axially moving segments for movement to free said segments from frozen welding metal of the joint, said plug provided with means for seating a resilient member, said resilient member contacting the axially moving segments of said sleeve whereby axial movement is given said segments by said plug prior to the engagement of its tapered portion with theinner faces of the segments for radial movement thereof.

g 4. An apparatus for aligning abutting pipe sections comprising 4in combination a segmental sleeve, A sleeve within' said pipe sections, some of said segments of said sleeve having both axial and radial movement, a piston rod carried by said supporting means, a piston on said rod, a hollow cylindrical plug slidably mounted on said piston rod, means for closing the end of said plug,isaid plug having a tapered end portion, said segmeans for supporting said segmental mwmw tapered inner surfaces of said segmental sleeve to move said segments into contact with the inner walls of said abutting pipe Sections, said plug having a cylinder formed thereon, a piston within said cylnder, said piston carried by said supporting means and means for supplying fiuid pressure to one side of said piston for moving said plug'into contact with said segments of said sleeve, Whereby the abutting pipe Sections are held rigidly in poition. during a welding operation. 10

JAMES B. GRAHAM. RAOUL G. MAYER. 

